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Cold War
The era The Cold War was a state of political and military tension after World War II between powers in the Western Bloc (the United States, its NATO allies and others) and powers in the Eastern Bloc (the Soviet Union and its satellite states). Historians do not fully agree on the dates, but a common timeframe is the period between 1947, the year the Truman Doctrine (a U.S. policy pledging to aid nations threatened by Soviet expansionism) was announced, and 1991, the year the Soviet Union collapsed. The period 1945-1991 and more specifically the interactions, directly or through proxies, between 'the West' and 'the Communist states.' The term "cold" is used because there was no large-scale fighting directly between the two sides, although there were major regional wars, known as proxy wars, supported by the two sides. The Cold War split the temporary wartime alliance against Nazi Germany, leaving the Soviet Union and the United States as two superpowers with profound economic and political differences. The USSR was a Marxist–Leninist state ruled by its Communist Party and secret police, who in turn were ruled by a dictator (Stalin) or a small committee ("Politburo"). The Party controlled the press, the military, the economy and all organizations. It also controlled the other states in the Eastern bloc, and funded Communist parties around the world, sometimes in competition with Communist China, particularly following the Sino-Soviet split of the 1960s. In opposition stood the West, dominantly democratic and capitalist with a free press and independent organizations. A small neutral bloc arose with the Non-Aligned Movement; it sought good relations with both sides. The two superpowers never engaged directly in full-scale armed combat, but they were heavily armed in preparation for a possible all-out nuclear world war. Each side had a nuclear deterrent that discouraged an attack by the other side, on the basis that such an attack would lead to total destruction of the attacker: the doctrine of mutually assured destruction (MAD). Aside from the development of the two sides' nuclear arsenals, and deployment of conventional military forces, the struggle for dominance was expressed via proxy wars around the globe, psychological warfare, massive propaganda campaigns and espionage, rivalry at sports events, and technological competitions such as the Space Race. The first phase of the Cold War began in the first two years after the end of the Second World War in 1945. The USSR consolidated its control over the states of the Eastern Bloc, while the United States began a strategy of global containment to challenge Soviet power, extending military and financial aid to the countries of Western Europe (for example, supporting the anti-communist side in the Greek Civil War) and creating the NATO alliance. The Berlin Blockade (1948–49) was the first major crisis of the Cold War. With the victory of the communist side in the Chinese Civil War and the outbreak of the Korean War (1950–53), the conflict expanded. The USSR and USA competed for influence in Latin America, and the decolonizing states of Africa and Asia. Meanwhile, the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 was stopped by the Soviets. The expansion and escalation sparked more crises, such as the Suez Crisis (1956), the Berlin Crisis of 1961, and the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962. Following the Cuban Missile Crisis, a new phase began that saw the Sino-Soviet split complicate relations within the communist sphere, while US allies, particularly France, demonstrated greater independence of action. The USSR crushed the 1968 Prague Spring liberalization program in Czechoslovakia, and the Vietnam War (1955–75) ended with a defeat of the US-backed Republic of South Vietnam, prompting further adjustments. By the 1970s, both sides had become interested in accommodations to create a more stable and predictable international system, inaugurating a period of détente that saw Strategic Arms Limitation Talks and the US opening relations with the People's Republic of China as a strategic counterweight to the Soviet Union. Détente collapsed at the end of the decade with the Soviet war in Afghanistan beginning in 1979. The early 1980s were another period of elevated tension, with the Soviet downing of Korean Air Lines Flight 007 (1983), and the "Able Archer" NATO military exercises (1983). The United States increased diplomatic, military, and economic pressures on the Soviet Union, at a time when the communist state was already suffering from economic stagnation. In the mid-1980s, the new Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev introduced the liberalizing reforms of perestroika ("reorganization", 1987) and glasnost ("openness", c. 1985) and ended Soviet involvement in Afghanistan. Pressures for national independence grew stronger in Eastern Europe, especially Poland. Mikhail Gorbachev meanwhile refused to use Soviet troops to bolster the faltering Warsaw Pact regimes as had occurred in the past. The result in 1989 was a wave of revolutions that peacefully (with the exception of the Romanian Revolution) overthrew all of the communist regimes of Central and Eastern Europe. The Communist Party of the Soviet Union itself lost control and was banned following an abortive coup attempt in August 1991. This in turn led to the formal dissolution of the USSR in December 1991 and the collapse of communist regimes in other countries such as Mongolia, Cambodia and South Yemen. The United States remained as the world's only superpower. The Cold War and its events have left a significant legacy. It is often referred to in popular culture, especially in media featuring themes of espionage (e.g. the internationally successful James Bond movie franchise) and the threat of nuclear warfare. Also see #Hungarian Revolution of 1956 #Europe #Africa #South America #North America #Central America and the Caribbean #The Middle East #South Asia #East Asia #South East Asia #Oceania #The Arctic and the Antarctica #Outer space #Science #Operation Chrome Dome #1950–1953 Korean War #Vietnam War #Portuguese Colonial War #NATO #Warsaw Pact #Nukes #Military exercises #"Reds under the bed" #House Committee on Un-American Activities #Directory of all Indochinese wars in the Cold War #Today's OTL types of economies, societies and regimes #UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights #Weather modification #Iranian Revolution #Organisations #Radar #Aircraft #Bombers #Navy #Weather modification #Missiles #Tanks and APCs #USSR #Eastern Bloc #The UN #Communist Parties #Nations #Films #Biographies #Energy industry #Sport #National leaders #Hungarian Revolution of 1956 #Arab–Israeli conflict #North Yemen-South Yemen Border Conflict of 1972 #North Yemen Civil War #Inner German Border #EBU #ECOWAS #EU #CACM #India #Pakistan #Six-Day War #Suez Crisis #Aden Emergency #Yom Kippur War #Time line of Iraq #1948 Palestine war #Iranian Revolution #1970s energy crises #Minerals and fuel in central Africa #What women should wear in the Middle East #Mineral mining, smelting and shipping videos #North Yemen-South Yemen Border Conflict of 1972 #Iranian videos page #Iran-Iraq war #Palestine vs Israel #1970s energy crises #1953 Iranian coup d'état #What women should wear in the Middle East #Bourj el-Barajneh and it's refugee camp #Six-Day War #Suez Crisis #Dhofar Rebellion #Omani Civil War #Hungarian Revolution of 1956 #The Al-Wadiah War (1969) #October 28, 1972 Cairo Agreement #Israel invasion of Lebanon in 1982 #Qibya massacre #Aden Emergency #Yom Kippur War #Time line of Iraq #1948 Palestine war #Iranian Revolution #1970s energy crises #Minerals and fuel in central Africa #What women should wear in the Middle East #Mineral mining, smelting and shipping videos #North Yemen-South Yemen Border Conflict of 1972 #Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf #Hungarian Revolution of 1956 #United Nations General Assembly #Secretary-General of the United Nations #UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights #United Nations General Assembly Resolution 2758 #United Nations Security Council Resolution 1 #United Nations Security Council Resolution 54 Sources *https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cold_War Other relevant wikis *Cold War and Post Cold War History Wiki http://cold-war-and-post-cold-war-history.wikia.com/wiki/Cold_War_and_Post_Cold_War_History_Wiki *Cold War http://1991-new-world-order.wikia.com/wiki/1945-1991:_Cold_War_Wiki, http://cold-war.wikia.com/wiki/Cold_War_Wiki and http://coldwar.wikia.com/wiki/Cold_War_Wiki Category:Politics Category:Cold War Category:History Category:Browse Category:Geopolitical Category:Military and civil operations Category:Nukes Category:Cold Category:Warfare